SUMMARY
The issue of asylum seekers has proven a fraught policy area for successive
governments in Australia. While asylum seeker policy falls under the
jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, recent changes to Federal policy in relation
to asylum seekers who arrive by boat could potentially have implications for
NSW, with increasing numbers of asylum seekers being accommodated in the
community, rather than in secure immigration detention centres. The NSW
Government has responded with concern about the implications of recent policy
changes for State infrastructure and resources. This paper outlines
developments in national policies relating to asylum seekers between 2008 and
2011, thereby updating a paper published by the NSW Parliamentary Library
Research Service in 2008.